ESSENCE OF THE BHAGAVAD-GITA by Ramesh S. Balsekar

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Ramesh S. Belsekar is one of the most profound spiritual Masters of this Age. He is both a brilliant writer and a captivating speaker. Shortly after retiring as the President of the Bank of India, he met the sage Nisargadatta Maharaj and began translating for Maharaj's daily morning talks. It was not long before Ramesh too experienced the Ultimate Understanding. He is therefore a wonderful blend of East and West, spiritual and material. His compassion and gentle humor infuse the Teaching with an energy that can only be described as being uniquely Ramesh.

Published by Zen Publications
Pamphlet 58 pages
ISBN 9788188071104
Also available as an eBook

Extract from The Essence of the Bhagavad-Gita

Chapter II/47

All you can do is to work for the sake of work. You have no
right to the fruits of the work (the consequences of your actions
are not in your control). But do not let this fact make you lean
towards inaction.

This is one of the most quoted of the verses in the Bhagavad-Gita,
and it is at the same time, perhaps the most difficult to accept
whole-heartedly; how can the human being act without motivation? And
yet this is precisely what he is asked to do!

The whole dilemma is based on the misconception that if a man is asked to work without expecting the fruit of his action, he would be inclined not to work. The misunderstanding is based on the belief that a human being has the free will to act or not to act.

Nobody likes being told that he has no free will. And yet look at the state of the world at the present time. The world is on the brink of disaster, where it has been for many years now with one crisis after another. The question - the big question - therefore remains: The human being certainly has tremendous intelligence (to send a man to the moon); he is also supposed to have free will - then why has the human being been unable to combine his intelligence and his free will to make the world a better place?